What’s happening to today’s pool of available employees? Are they finding fortune and bliss elsewhere, leaving trade work to a very limited few?

Depending on whom you ask there are as many answers as there are questions.

According to Cam Marston, author of Motivating The “What’s In It For Me?” Workforce (2007, Wiley), many of today’s workers have a Peter Pan complex. Specifically, those workers born since 1965 don’t want to follow in the footsteps of their elders – they do not want to grow up to be like the generations before them.

“Gen Xers and New Millennials essentially have said to their managers. . . ‘We don’t share your definition of success. We define success differently and will pursue other rewards for our work.’ This change in values is having a profound impact on the work environment and on the time-honored management structure Boomers have come to rely on. . . The traditional rules of management, motivation, and reward fly out the window,” according to Marston’s book.

Gone are the workers who rolled up their sleeves and worked 10-plus hours a day to complete a job.

So who is to blame for the change in attitude? Unfortunately, it’s the Boomer generation of workers who kept their noses to the grindstone.

Marston says, “From early childhood through their college years, Gen Xers heard their parents talking about their hopes for them:

I hope you. . .

* Do well in school.

* Go to college.

* Get a master’s degree.

* Become a professional.

* Be your own boss.

. . . so you don’t have to . . .

* Work as hard as I do.

* Pinch pennies like I do.

* Work for a jerk like I do.

To help Boomer managers deal with the sea change, Marston uses his book to explain in great detail the attitudes and expectations of Gen Xers and New Millennials. He also devotes a chapter of his book to becoming a better boss in the 21st century workplace.

Offering readers rules to follow, Marston offers advice on incorporating the viewpoint of the younger generations.

One interesting and easily adopted rule is to use clear and straightforward language.

“Always say exactly what you want your staff to do. In general, I have found Boomers and Matures – the senior management – are often reluctant to give clear, direct, specific instruction about what they want an employee or subordinate to do; perhaps it seems too blunt and rude to give them a direct order,” according to Marston. “Instead, they speak in generalities or suggest a method, plan, or behavior.

“To the dismay of executives, Gen Xers and Millennials hear these suggestions and take them as just that – suggestions.”

To further gain perspective on myriad generations, Marston ends the book with a Generational Voices Quiz that has readers select which generation they think the statements are from. (Mature, born between 1909 and 1945; Boomer, born between 1946 and 1964; Gen Xer, born between 1965 and 1979; or Millennial born between 1980 and 2000.)

Some of the questions are pretty tricky. For example, can you guess which generation would say this statement: When I was a junior in high school, the Grammy for Album of the Year went to Bob Dylan for Time Out Of Mind.

For the answer, e-mail Traci Purdum.